Ratchet spinner wrench

ABSTRACT

An improved spinner for a ratchet wrench wherein the wrench includes an integral drive shaft, ratchet gear and a bearing that is disposed crosswise of the operating end of the handle and retained therein by a cover plate and a retaining snap ring. The operating end of the handle is provided with a lengthwise slit so as to form a yoke in which is disposed a spinner. The bearing portion of the drive mates with and is locked to the spinner as by a press fit or spline whereby when the spinner is rotated by hand the drive will turn as well as the socket held thereon. Thus the bolt or nut to be threaded can be started by hand operation with a minimum of space being occupied in close working areas.

United States Patent [1 1 3,691,876

Cassi y, Jr. [451 Sept. 19, 1972 [5 RATCHET SPINNER WRENCH PrimbryExaminer-James L. Jones, Jr. I

72] Inventor; Leon cassidy Jr R11 2, Attorney l larry M Sarago vi t z, Edward J. Kelly, Herwykertown Road, Branchvme N'L bert Berl and Ernest F. Wemberger 07826 T [22] Filed: Feb. 8, 1971 [57] d h An improve spinner oraratc etwrenc wherein the Appl' ,wrench includes an integral drive shaft, ratchet gear and a bearing that is disposed crosswise of the operat- [52] 0.8. CI ..81/58.l ing end of the handle and retained therein by a cover [51] Int. Cl. ..B25b 13/00 'plate and a retaining snap ring. The operating end of [58] Field of Search ..8l/58.l the h ndle is provided with a lengthwise slit so as to form a yoke in which is disposed a spinner. The bear- [56] Ree'ences C'ted ing portion of the drive mates with and is locked to UNITED STATES PATENTS the spinner by a press fit or spline whereby when the spinner is rotated by hand the drive Wlil turn as Deck we as the socket thereon Thus the bolt of nut 794,952 7/1905 Schroeder ..8l/58.l

to be threaded can be started by hand operation with a minimum of space being occupied in close working 7 areas.

2,404,092 7/ l 946 Reynolds ..8 l/58.l

I Claims 2 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDszr 19 m2 3.691. 876

INVENTOR, LEON J. CASS IDY,JR

" A m s.

RATCI-IET SPINNER WRENCH The invention described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to ratchet wrenches and more particularly to a ratchet wrench capable of turning the socket by hand without using the ratchet handle mechanism and with a minimum of head room for operation in tightly confined spaces.

In the field of ratchet wrenches, it has been the general practice to disengage the wrench from the socket when the nut or bolt was to be initially threaded within a confined area and then rotate the socket by hand. This method has in a great many instances proved to be unsatisfactory in that the socket is difficult to rotate. As an alternative, the mechanic would resort to start the nut directly by hand. The present invention overcomes this difficulty by providing a spinner for a ratchet wrench which does not extend the distance between the forward end of socket and the back of the handle, namely the socket depth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general purpose of this invention is to provide an improved ratchet wrench that has all the advantages of similarly employed prior art devices and has none of the above described disadvantages. To attain this, the present invention provides a simple spinner which is disposed crosswise of the handle in a slit formed in the operating end and fixedly engaged to the socket drive. Thus the improvement does not increase depth while permitting hand rotation of the socket.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, reliable ratchet wrench whose attached socket may be readily hand rotated without any addition to the socket depth in order to permit operation within confined spaces.

Another object is to provide an improvement for existin g ratchet wrenches which will allow hand operation of the socket without any attendant increase in socket depth.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a ratchet wrench provided with the improved spinner; and,

FIG. 2. is a cross-sectional view of the assembled wrench of FIG. 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1 the wrench handle consists of a hand gripping portion 1 l and an opposed operating end 12 which is provided with an dle there is provided a slot containing a pawl one of whose toothed ends 16 is visible. The pawl is supported therein for pivotal movement under the direction of bar 17 (see FIG. 2) which effectively controls the direction of the ratchetting operation. The opposite or outer face 18 is fonned with an aperture 19 coaxial with the opening 13 so as to form a continuous opening from face to face.

The operating end 12 of the handle is slit so as to form a lengthwise opening or cutaway section 20 extending from the top 21 of the handle to slightly below the enlarged opening 13. The walls defining the slit 20 being approximately perpendicular to the axis of the opening and aperture and, spaced apart a sufficient distance to permit a circular disc or spinner 21 to be positioned therein for freely rotation. In assembling the wrench, the spinner disc whose outer peripheral edge 22 is knurled and which is provided with a central opening 23 alignable with aperture 19 is seated in slit 20 and positioned therein. A gear wheel 24, having a forward socket drive 25 and a rear bearing shaft 26 is inserted into the operating end 12 via enlarged opening 13. The shaft 26 seats in aperture 19 and is supported for rotation therein. The ratchet gear 27 disposed on the gear wheel intermediate the ends thereof has its teeth engage with the pawl teeth 16 while the drive 25 extends outwardly of the handle. Although the drive 25 is square in cross-section, that portion 28 thereof, proximate the extended ratchet gear 27, is circular so as to readily receive and rotate within the annular opening 28 of cover plate 29 when it is placed thereover. Retaining annular snap ring 30 completes the assembly when inserted into the annular recess 15 so as to hold the various parts in operative relationship.

It should be observed that when a socket 31 is snapped on the drive shaft 25 it will turn with the handle in a direction dependent on the pawl position and ratchet in the opposite direction. The spinner disc 21 is fixedly attached to the bearing 26 as by a pressfit or spline to allow removal, and therefore the socket can be rotated directly by the spinner under hand operation since the knurled peripheral edge extends outwardly of the handle. Further, it is clear that the inclusion or addition of the spinner has not extended the depth of the socket or the distance from the forward end 32 thereof to the outer face 18 of the handle. This allows use of the wrench in tightly confined spaces where limited depth exists. A similar result could be attained if the spinner were disposed on a portion of the bearing made to extend outwardly of face 18.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that numerous modifications and alterations may be made therein without departing from the spiritv and the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An improved spinner ratchet wrench having a handle with an operating end provided with an aperture from face to face therethrough enlarged at one face for receiving and supporting therein for rotation with said handle a ratchet drive gear under pawl action, that improvement which comprises:

a spinner disc coaxial with and affixed to, said drive gear for independent rotation thereof, said spinner disc extending outwardly of the periphery of said operating end and disposed intermediate of said faces of the operating end, said operating end being provided with a slit transverse of the axis of said aperture in which said disc is disposed. 5 2. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein the peripheral edge of said disc is knurled.

# I i t i 

1. An improved spinner ratchet wrench having a handle with an operating end provided with an aperture from face to face therethrough enlarged at one face for receiving and supporting therein for rotation with said handle a ratchet drive gear under pawl action, that improvement which comprises: a spinner disc coaxial with and affixed to, said drive gear for independent rotation thereof, said spinner disc extending outwardly of the periphery of said operating end and disposed intermediate of said faces of the operating end, said operating end being provided with a slit transverse of the axis of said aperture in which said disc is disposed.
 2. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein the peripheral edge of said disc is knurled. 